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Oklahoma City Thunder adds 2 more players

BY DARNELL MAYBERRY •
Published: February 20, 2009

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The day began with remnants of shock, but Thursday’s trade deadline ended in a successful recovery for the Thunder.

Hours after rescinding its trade with New Orleans for center Tyson Chandler late Wednesday because of health concerns, Oklahoma City acquired guard Thabo Sefolosha from Chicago and Malik Rose from New York in two separate deals.

San Antonio Spurs forward Malik Rose celerates making a basket in the 4th quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets in San Antonio, Wednesday, June 4, 2003. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

The Thunder sent a 2009 first-round draft pick to the Bulls — the lesser of the Denver and San Antonio selections the team has rights to — and dealt reserve forward Chris Wilcox to the Knicks.

To make room for the new additions, the Thunder waived seldom-used center Mo Sene.

"We feel like we accomplished some of the things that we wanted to,” said Thunder general manager Sam Presti.

"We’re excited about having Malik and Thabo join us. I think they’ll have positive impacts on our team and also our culture. We’re excited to continue to take the momentum that we’ve gained in recent weeks and continue to build on it.”

Presti said it has yet to be determined when Rose and Sefolosha will join the Thunder.

But neither player will meet the team on the current two-game road trip that starts in Phoenix tonight as both players will soon travel to Oklahoma City to take their mandatory physicals.

Their additions, however, led Presti to consider his franchise one step further along in its rebuilding efforts.

"Through our process, we feel like we’re walking into the next phase of team-building at a positive position,” Presti said.